Editing Rich Mullins (section)

== Music career ==
Mullins had a distinctive talent both as a performer and a songwriter. His compositions showed distinction in two ways: unusual and sometimes striking [[Instrumentation (music)|instrumentation]], and complex [[lyrics]] that usually employed elaborate [[metaphor]]s.

Mullins did most of his composing and performing on piano and acoustic guitar, but he also had a prodigious talent for obscure instruments. He displayed arguably virtuoso skills on the [[hammered dulcimer]] (in "Calling out Your Name" and "Creed"), [[lap dulcimer]] (in "Who God is Gonna Use" and "Where You Are"), and the [[Irish tin whistle]] (in "Boy Like Me/Man Like You" and "The Color Green").

Mullins formed his first band in 1976 to 77 while attending [[Cincinnati Christian University|Cincinnati Bible College]].<ref name="Rich Mullins time line 1" />  In 1983 [[Debby Boone]] recorded Mullins' "O Come All Ye Faithful", for her ''Surrender'' album. In 1984, the song was also featured in a TV film, ''Sins of the Past''.<ref name="Rich Mullins time line 1" />

[[File:Chrisian Music Singer Rich Mullins with his First Formal Band, Zion.png|thumb|Mullins ''(second from right)'' pictured with his band Zion {{circa|1978}}|alt=]]

His musical career formally began with Zion Ministries in the late 1970s, where he wrote music and performed with a band called Zion.<ref name="Rich Mullins time line 1" />
The band released one album in 1981, ''Behold the Man''.<ref name="Rich Mullins time line 1" /> While working for this ministry, Mullins wrote a song called "[[Age to Age#Chart history|Sing Your Praise to the Lord]]", which was recorded by singer [[Amy Grant]] in 1982 and became an immediate hit on [[Christian radio]].<ref name="Rich Mullins time line 1" />

In 1986, Mullins released his eponymous [[Rich Mullins (album)|debut album]], followed in 1987 by ''[[Pictures in the Sky]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://audiori.net/richmullins/timeline1987.html |title = Rich Mullins timeline 1987 – audiori.net |publisher = Audiori.net |access-date = October 31, 2012 |archive-date = October 3, 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151003001902/http://audiori.net/richmullins/timeline1987.html |url-status = live }}</ref> Neither album sold very well,<ref name="Music and More Interview with Jon Rivers" /> but the Christian radio hit "[[Awesome God]]" on his third album, ''[[Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth]]'', brought his music to a wider audience. The song "Awesome God" was written either at Rock Lake Christian Assembly camp in Michigan, or on the way to a youth conference in Bolivar, Missouri in July 1987. The details of the song’s composition are sketchy. As is often true of the work of touring musicians, a song will incubate for several weeks, months, or even years, before it coheres into something recognizable to the writer. It seems this was the case for “Awesome God” as well.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Hymns: 'Our God is an Awesome God' |url=https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/history-of-hymns-our-god-is-an-awesome-god |access-date=2023-02-28 |website=Discipleship Ministries |language=en-US |archive-date=February 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228011123/https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/history-of-hymns-our-god-is-an-awesome-god |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the early 1990s, Mullins released a pair of albums entitled ''[[The World As Best As I Remember It, Volume One]]'' and ''[[The World As Best As I Remember It, Volume Two|Volume Two]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://audiori.net/richmullins/timeline1992.html |title = Rich Mullins timeline 1992 – audiori.net |publisher = Audiori.net |access-date = October 31, 2012 |archive-date = October 3, 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151003013828/http://audiori.net/richmullins/timeline1992.html |url-status = live }}</ref> These featured a more stripped-back, acoustic feel than his earlier work, with nods to [[Irish music]]. "Step By Step", a song written by his friend [[David Strasser|Beaker]] and included on volume one, and incorporated into "Sometimes By Step" with additional lyrics by Mullins on volume two, became an instant hit on Christian radio, and, like "Awesome God", it became a popular praise chorus. Both during and after Mullins' college years, Beaker was a substantial influence on Mullins and his music. Beaker co-wrote, performed, and toured with Mullins for several years. The first song they wrote together was "Boy Like Me, Man Like You", a 1991 hit for Mullins. Mullins wrote his hit song "Let Mercy Lead" for Beaker's son Aidan.

In 1993, Mullins assembled a group of Nashville musicians (including [[Jimmy Abegg]], Beaker, Billy Crockett, [[Phil Madeira]], [[Rick Elias]], and [[Aaron Smith (musician)|Aaron Smith]]) to form [[A Ragamuffin Band]], whose name was inspired by the Christian book ''[[The Ragamuffin Gospel]]'' by [[Brennan Manning]]. The band recorded ''[[A Liturgy, a Legacy, & a Ragamuffin Band]]'', which was later named the No. 3 best Christian album of all time by ''[[CCM Magazine]]''. ''Liturgy'' was a [[concept album]] that drew its inspiration, in part, from the [[Roman Catholic liturgy|Catholic liturgy]]. The Ragamuffins also appeared on Mullins' 1995 record ''[[Brother's Keeper (Rich Mullins album)|Brother's Keeper]]'' and his 1998 record ''The Jesus Record''. [[Mark Robertson (bassist)|Mark Robertson]] joined the Ragamuffins as the band's bass player for touring and ''The Jesus Record''.

In 1997, Mullins teamed up with Beaker and Mitch McVicker to write a musical based on the life of [[St. Francis of Assisi]]: ''The Canticle of the Plains''.<ref name="Mullins Takes Risk with Show on Saint, But Fans Keep Faith" /> Mullins had great respect for St. Francis, and even formed "The Kid Brothers of St. Frank" in the late 1980s with Beaker.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.richmullins.com/kidbrothers.html |title=richmullins.com/kidbrothers |publisher=Richmullins.com |access-date=October 31, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529035529/http://www.richmullins.com/kidbrothers.html |archive-date=May 29, 2010 }}</ref>

Shortly before his death, Mullins had been working on his next project, which was to be a concept album based on the life of [[Jesus Christ]] and was to be called ''Ten Songs About Jesus''. On September 10, 1997, nine days before his death, he made a rough [[microcassette]] recording of the album's songs in an abandoned church. This tape was released as disc 1 of ''[[The Jesus Record]]'', which featured new recordings of the songs on disc 2 by the Ragamuffin Band, with guest vocalists Amy Grant, [[Michael W. Smith]], [[Ashley Cleveland]], and [[Phil Keaggy]]. "Heaven in His Eyes" was not a new song, but had been written more than two decades earlier, and was a beloved favorite of Mullins'.

Mullins recorded the duet "I Believe" with [[Hokus Pick]] on the album ''Brothers From Different Mothers'' in 1994. In addition to vocals, Mullins performed on the lap and hammered dulcimers.<ref name=duet>{{cite book |last = Hokus Pick |title = Bothers From Different Mothers |year = 1994 |publisher = Vision Artists |location = Liner Notes }}</ref>